Online video service Hulu has announced that it will soon offer its Hulu Plus service for Android phones. Hulu Plus is a subscription-based service that allows users to view more episodes of more TV shows than Hulu offers for free. The Hulu Plus service is also currently the only way to view Hulu content on an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.
Hulu’s web site is Flash-based, but Hulu blocks mobile browsers, so that even Android phones that support Flash can’t get Hulu videos to play unles you jump through some hurdles (which may, or may not work). So it’s pretty good news that Hulu plans to bring Hulu Plus to Android.
The bad news is that not all phones will be supported. You’ll need Android 2.2 and up, and even then only certain phones will be supported. That likely has to do with the way Android handles DRM… or rather, doesn’t handle DRM. Netflix has already explained that the reason it’s taking so long to bring its video streaming service to the Android platform is because the company has to work with individual phone makers and wireless carriers to enable support for the Netflix DRM. I imagine Hulu has to do the same.
It seems like some Samsung phones will be among the first to support Hulu Plus when it rolls out in a few months, since the announcement came during the Samsung Keynote at CES this evening.